Seanad debates

Friday, 17 July 2015

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages

 

10:30 am

Photo of David CullinaneDavid Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I understand the need for the legislation and the terms of reference so that the levy is fair and robust. There is no doubt that potentially there may be legal challenges to the proposals by some landowners who will resist having to pay the levy. I understand why the Minister wants to ensure, as best as possible, that the provisions of the Bill are sound and robust and can stand any test in court. What will the Government do about contaminated land? In some of these cases, the land is contaminated because of the landowner. If there is no responsibility on the landowner to remediate the land, to bring it back to proper use and make it available for the purpose for which it was zoned, housing, should there be, perhaps, some provision to dezone the land? There must be an incentive, and-or some penalty so that the landowner does not just leave the land contaminated and nothing being done with it.

In the absence of the Minister of State accepting this amendment, what is the Government seeking to do, if anything, in relation to contaminated land and to ensure that landowners do not just sit on these lands and do nothing?

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